Tag: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Funny thing about literal translations: they’re rarely very good at saying exactly what you mean, rather they tend to sort-of-in-a-general-way communicate a rough idea. And sometimes, they’re downright misleading. Take judo, for example. The Japanese translates into English imprecisely to begin with: ju translates literally as “gentle” or “soft”, while do is “way” or “path”. Both of these concepts relate more to the philosophy of judo — conservation of energy and an emphasis on technique — than a description of the style and action. Ask anyone who’s ever tried a few classes in the “gentle way“, and they’ll tell you that it’s anything but. Any class that begins with learning how to fall down with minimal pain runs a significant risk of being brutal.

Judo was born in the late 19th Century by a Japanese jujitsu fella by the name of Jiguro Kano, known to his brodogs as “Da Jigumon”. Kano had begun training as a result of being bullied growing up –a storythat stillrings truethrough time. At the time, “jujitsu” was something of a generic term for unarmed fighting, and schools varied wildy in technique, training methods, and instruction.

Maximum Fighting Championship president Mark Pavelich announced last night that his promotion has found the next challenger for Cage Potato guest blogger and reigning MFC light heavyweight championRyan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (15-1). Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou (12-8) has signed with the Edmonton, Alberta-based organization and will take on Jimmo at MFC 31: The Rundown on Friday, October 7 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton. The show will air live on HDNet Fights.

“I am extremely excited to see what happens when Jimmo and Sokoudjou collide. I truly believe it will be the most explosive title fight ever in MFC history,” said Pavelich.“Ryan is a terrific champion and represents the MFC like no other fighter ever has before. Now we’re going to see how he handles the athleticism and pressure that Sokoudjou will put on him.”

A veritable treasure trove of MMA action kicked off with two events last night, MFC 30 and “The Score Fighting Series”. Even if those organizations don’t ring a bell for you, they did line up recognizable names for their cards, and we’ve got the videos of who did what to whom.

At MFC 30, Brian Cobb showed no intimidation when the opening bell rang, but shortly after standing back up from a Drew Fickett takedown, the 18-6 prospect found himself in a world of trouble. Just a minute into the fight, Fickett took Cobb’s back standing, locking up a body triangle and working for his 31st submission when the fight hit the ground. Three and a half minutes and a dozen rear naked choke attempts later, Cobb turned into Fickett’s guard and unloaded a barrage of unanswered punches forcing the ref to halt the bout. To his credit, Fickett did meet all of the criteria needed to challenge an early stoppage, but from the replay it looked like the only thing supporting his bobblehead was the bottom rope.

After the jump, video of Spratt-Davis, a video recap of The Score, and full results.

Basically, it was the kind of performance that, in any other sport, would cause a major scandal, Frye’s immediate firing and the issuing of a vague and halfhearted apology on Sunday morning. In independent MMA, it’s just par for the course.

"That was like two hours of hard, rough sex,” Frye reportedly said to close out the PPV. “I need a shot of tequila and a cigarette now."

Check out the extended video trailer for "Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley" above, in which a cast of fighters and analysts (and Don Frye) break down the event. And if you’re an MMA FightPicker supporter, please head on over to fightpicker.cagepotato.com or apps.facebook.com/fightpicker to make your picks for the ten-fight card. The pool questions are after the jump. Note: Due to injuries, Drew McFedries and Marcus Hicks have dropped off the card and have been replaced by Danillo Villefort and Daniel Straus. The event’s preliminary card will be streamed on Sherdog.

(So does the "FC" stand for "Financially Challenged," "Financial Crisis" or "Fighters Cheated?")

If you were one of the many people who had serious doubts that both of the upstart Impact Fighting Championships promotion’s two scheduled July MMA events would go off without a hitch and the issue would somehow relate back to Paulo Filho, you were right, except for the fact that the beleaguered Brazilian is not at all to blame for the controversy surrounding the shows.

The issue that has affected not only Filho, but also the majority of the fighters who competed on the pair of Australian cards, is that none of them have been paid by the promotion.

We learned of the situation Wednesday from one of the affected fighters who wished to remain anonymous, but have since been able to confirm the story with more than a dozen others, including Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jesse Taylor and Brian Ebersole, that none of the cards’ participants have received their complete fight purses .

Sokoudjou has gone 4-3 since being released by the UFC in 2008, and most recently scored a quick TKO over Joaquim Ferreira at Impact FC Brisbane. Alexander was cut by the UFC after dropping a decision to Kimbo Slice at the TUF 10 Finale, and has gone 1-1 in 2010 so far, suffering a TKO loss to Joey Beltran and notching a decision win over David Griffin. Also on the Shark Fights 13 card…

(Gegard Mousasi tells reporters that training for the Gary Goodridge fight was "not good," and it was difficult to stay motivated. That’s the spirit. Video courtesy of YouTube.com/DREAM.)

We’re about 12 hours away from Fields Dynamite!! 2009 (3 a.m. ET, HDNet), which means it’s time to take whatever disposable income you have left after the holiday season and throw it all away on ill-informed sports betting. Check out the official fight lineup below courtesy of MMA Junkie, and the odds courtesy of Bodog, which seems to be the only major online bookmaker taking wagers on this mess. You ready to see some squash matches?

It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven months since Dream’s Super Hulk Tournament burst onto the MMA scene to show the world what a real freak show is all about. The opening round featured Japanese shit-show regulars like Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi, but also new faces like Jose Canseco, and even Gegard Mousasi before he pulled out to explore less freakish fighting goals. But now the tournament has been whittled down to two remaining giant-slayers, and the good people at Dream put together this highlight to remind us what’s at stake this New Year’s Eve when Dynamite!! 2009 ushers in the finale of a pursuit many believed was too ridiculous even for Japan.

The irony here is that the two finalists in the Super Hulk tournament — Ikuhisa Minowa and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou — were two of the least super hulky guys in the tournament. Not that it’s surprising that Sapp and Choi failed to make it to the finals (hell, Sapp went 0-2, which is kind of impressive considering it was a single-elimination tournament), but Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou is actually an unusually normal fight for New Year’s Eve in Japan.